Emmanuel King, a junior lawyer at Nicol-Wilson & Co. (Malaika Chambers), has emerged as the champion of the Sierra Leone Scrabble tournament. He beat 15 other players to secure a spot at the 2023 World English Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA) Championship, which is scheduled to take place in July in Las Vegas, USA. King won 15 out of the 20 games played, with a spread of +1308. Yusuf Koroma finished as the runner-up, winning 14 out of 20 games played, with a spread of +787. Abdul Borbor Kamara came in third place, winning 12.5 games with a spread of +527.
Ibrahim Deen Swarray, Patrick Hamilton-Drape, and Ibrahim Conteh finished in the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively, while veteran scrabbler Ishmael Sesay finished in eighth place.
In an interview with Owlsports, King expressed his delight at being crowned the champion of this year’s qualifiers. He commended his opponents for their inspiring play and admitted that they pushed him to his limits. Despite feeling nervous before the decisive clash with Patrick, Yusuf, and Abdul Borbor, he said he was able to conquer them in the end.
King acknowledged that the road ahead will not be easy, but he is mentally preparing himself to represent Sierra Leone at the championship and hopes to fly the country’s flag high. He believes that his remarkable spread in the qualifiers is an indication that he has taken a step forward and is looking forward to preparing for the upcoming championship.
